Western Australia Weekly Cattle Summary
AUSTRALIA - The annual turn off of cattle from the Ag districts continued this week with the Mt Barker sales having their largest sale of the year thus far, which exceeded 2500 headVealer rates ease
The numbers of heavy weight vealers remained limited this week with the majority of calves sold having been of medium and lightweight and reflective of this year’s seasonal conditions. Local trade competition remained restricted to heavier vealers with no change realised in the market. Feeder competition fluctuated throughout the week. There was a softening trend recorded as the week progressed with the Great Southern sale generally lower by 6¢ to 10¢/kg lwt for both heifers and steers with some grades back even further. The early turnoff by many producers this year has seen several “special sales” in the southwest having been cancelled. Trade weight yearling supplies remained reasonable this week. Trade competition was stable and the market maintained it position. The numbers of heavy weight steers and heifers continued to be limited with a lack of trade competition continuing to be a deterring factor in producers forwarding numbers. Heavy weight steer sales improved marginally with little or no movement evident in heifer rates. The cow market rose marginally due to an increased grazier activity, which was seen primarily at Midland early in the week. A lack of trade competition continued to hamper the heavy weight bull market with rates unchanged.
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